Some troops donating shutdown paychecks

Oct. 4, 2013 - 05:16PM
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Some service members say receiving a full paycheck during a government shutdown is not fair to the rest of the country, and they are giving some of that money to charity.

An online fundraiser launched Thursday is urging troops and others to donate to Feed America, which provides food to more than 14 million children of low-income families.

Congress “made exceptions for military pay. We don’t want it,” says the pitch, dubbed “Keep My Paycheck” at the site crowdrise.com.

“Government workers who were already furloughed earlier this year have been sent home without pay, urgent medical services have been halted, and poor families will not receive vital programs for basic subsistence,” the pitch says.

“We serve our country out of a sense of duty. And we will share in our country’s hardships. So until Congress chooses to restore funding for programs that allow the families we fight for to survive at home, we are donating our paychecks to the poorest among us, those most impacted by the shutdown.”